Etape du Tour 2013
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Basically in June you'll be given a number. Assuming you all didn't tell them about any races or results you had you shoudl all be in the same group. Each pen is split into race numbers, what number these go from will depend on overall entry figures.
Assume you're all in the same pen then it's upto you when you go.0 -
I think your start number is a bit of a lottery.
My 1st Etape was last year, (Act 2, Pyrenees), and I gave them no info as had never done one or similar before.
And yet I started in the 2nd pen, with less than 500 in front of me, 5000 or more behind me. Fortunately I finished (lots didn't, very wet and cold), and came 408th, so hopefully justified my start place!*
I was staying in a B&B with 6 others, all mates, all similar abilities, and they were spread all over the place.
So don't assume you'll be together at the start. If you want to ride together, the lower number riders will just have to ride gently until the others catch up. Not too hard to do, as there was only about 5 minutes between pens, and I believe everyone was off within 40 minutes, (1st guy to last guy).
*had my brakes worked in the wet (carbon rim tubulars), I like to think I'd have been better than 400!0 -
Thanks for the replies.
And Berni, I saw some footage from last year in the Pyrenees - looked pretty rough out there. Congratulations.0 -
kerry-man wrote:I got straight through to payments and got a confirmation screen message with transaction details etc but nothing showing in my email or account yet, Ive just realised that i put my first name and last name in the wrong boxes, will this affect my transaction?
I doubt it. Have you done a search on the riders list on the Etape site. I did and found that my first name is registered as my surname.0 -
hmmmm
just registered after having to log off and do some work during my earlier attempt this morning
To be honest I was pessimistic of getting a place at 930PM with only 1 etape in 2013 and my experience of last years Marmotte selling out in 2-3h but Im in!
see you there0 -
Gents, I'm looking to fill out the application for the etape, but there doesn't seem to be an option for a British/United Kingdom nationality when filling out the ASO form? Just wondered if I am alone in seeing this problem. I did act 1 this year and quite fancy going again..assuming I can get this application filled out before the places all go.
Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom on this.0 -
Try Royaume Uni, or Great Britain. Annoying I know as it's not your nationality it's your country, but hey, don't fight the system....!0
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Haha glad to see I wasn't the only one! I gave up and just picked a random nationality!
Although I have changed it now...0 -
Blinking brilliant, thanks a million, I was looking for Grand Bretagne or anything around the 'U' section but did not catch that. Thanks again!0
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Looking yesterday, there were 8000 people signed up for the Etape on the EdT website. I am guessing the tour operators' quota of places is not included as they won't yet have given their customers' details to ASO. Depending how many places are reserved for the operators, the Etape is probably close to a sell out.0
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In that case, there will be close to 10 000 riders on the day. I just hope they manage the congestion hot spots well because I do not want to have to walk up the hills in a crowd!0
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The climb up the Cote du Puget begins quite quickly after the start on a road that narrows quite a lot, so expect some clip-clopping there0
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For the main English speaking countries it's: Royaume-Uni = United Kingdom; Irlande = Ireland; Etats-Unis = United States (near the bottom of the scroll list!); Afrique du Sud = South Africa; Australie = Australia; Nouvelle-Zélande = New Zealand; Canada = Canada (but you worked that one out). Strangely enough, Christmas Island is Ile Christmas and not Ile Noël, which also made me wonder if you get special treatment if you're the only cyclist from your country competing.bernithebiker wrote:Try Royaume Uni, or Great Britain. Annoying I know as it's not your nationality it's your country, but hey, don't fight the system....!0 -
If they sell out you can enter the Cimes du Lac on the 29 September which follows pretty much the same route but in the other direction.BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
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Gussio wrote:willy b wrote:Haha glad to see I wasn't the only one! I gave up and just picked a random nationality!
Although I have changed it now...
I'll be racing under the British Virgin Islands flag thanks to my poor French
I picked Jersey, done my head in for 15 minutes and then gave up looking for UK,Great Britain etc! My French is obviously worse than I thought!
For the sake of 20 euros and a lot more stress i entered after 6pm and was all sorted in 5 minutes, happy days.
Will be a great day, my third in a row, and obviously 8000 others agree, which undermines all the moaners on here who predicted a low turn out for the event.0 -
I know one of the French tour operators, and if they buy the entries, it's something like 140 Euros. Noone has any idea why. So if you want to go with them, they advise you to do the entry yourself and save the money.
They will do it for you if you want, but they'll just add it to your bill.
They do at least have guaranteed places, so could be good for a last minute thing.
So perhaps not so many extra places via the operators, maybe another 1000 or so.
Whatever, it's gonna be pretty busy out there, best hope you get a lowish start number!0 -
It sounds like lots of people have managed to successfully register online directly, but have they now filled up already and removed the Registration form/link ...or am I missing something?!
I looked earlier this week and the "Registrations" page announced "Registration will open on the 28th of November".
However, when I tried to register last night, there was no way of entering directly. It still says "Registration will open on the 28th of November" and just lists a load of tour operators for international entries, but no sign of any entry form, or link to an entry form.
I've also tried the French version, cleared my browser's cache and even tried a different browser in case it was loading an old web page. :?
Quelle est going on mon amis?!0 -
You need to click on the ASO link and register from there.0
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Great, thanks for that.Fogliettaz wrote:You need to click on the ASO link and register from there.
I had been onto the ASO website and just ended up back on the l'Etape du Tour website - I hadn't clicked on "Subscribe" on the ASO site as I thought that was just for a newsletter. :roll:0 -
There's an article about Mavic in the French newspaper "La Dauphiné Libéré" which quotes Mavic's Marketing and Communication director as saying there will be 14000 riders on the Etape du Tour: http://www.ledauphine.com/haute-savoie/2012/11/23/mavic-en-piste-pour-le-tour-de-france-2013. If that figure is anywhere near the truth, the EdT could be more like the London to Brighton bike ride than a normal sportive.0
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JS14 wrote:There's an article about Mavic in the French newspaper "La Dauphiné Libéré" which quotes Mavic's Marketing and Communication director as saying there will be 14000 riders on the Etape du Tour: http://www.ledauphine.com/haute-savoie/2012/11/23/mavic-en-piste-pour-le-tour-de-france-2013. If that figure is anywhere near the truth, the EdT could be more like the London to Brighton bike ride than a normal sportive.
Not sure where that figure's been plucked from - are they maybe expecting the tour operators to provide another 5000? I doubt it.
But whatever, it's going to be huge, and as someone earlier said, some of the roads are small. I for one would be gutted if I had to wait 10 minutes in a huge jam.0 -
bernithebiker wrote:But whatever, it's going to be huge, and as someone earlier said, some of the roads are small. I for one would be gutted if I had to wait 10 minutes in a huge jam.
A lot of the roads are quite small. With 14,000 riders, as well as the Cote du Puget causing problems (it's the Ditchling Beacon of Annecy :-) the roads from the Lechaux to Chatelard will be difficult. The first part of the climb following the descente du Pres will be sporting. The road from la Feclaz to le Revard will be slow and the roads from Montcel to Quintal will be bottlenecked.BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
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I agree that Mavic's figure of 14000 as reported seems wildly optimistic, or just simply wrong. Today, 9600 have signed up and I guess most cyclists who are interested in the EdT will already have entered. The EdT French website has posted a news item today saying that the last few places will soon go and urging the latecomers and undecided to sign up in the next few days. After that, subtract the 10% or 20% of registered riders who don't turn up on the day and you are probably looking at 9000 starters at most.0
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To those of you who have ridden the route, an easy question. Are there any tunnels? I doubt it based on the topography and I don't see any on the Michelin map but I thought I would ask. We did l'etape 2011 to l'Alpe d'Huez and it was fantastic, except for the long and poorly lit tunnels, pretty dicey stuff in a group. We heard there was a bad crash later in the day. A cheap light would solve it, wouldn't take much.
Someday I hope to have enough cycling around Europe on my palmares to complain about a route like this, amazing.
Coming back to the same place as the start will be great, we could have done without the long transfer the day before the ride. And we talked with a number of people who had much worse stories from previous years.
It'll be awesome, now get out there and train!0 -
BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
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davidof wrote:
Great vid, very useful and informative.
But some of those roads are super narrow! I hope Aso know what they're doing sending 11 000 riders along there; I think there are going to be some almighty traffic jams. All it takes is for one guy to throw his chain there, and all sorts of chaos will ensue behind......!0 -
The narrowest road is up to the col de Lechaud and I can see that being a bit of a problem. There are some sharp bends too. The big climbs of le Semnoz and le Revard are on wide roads although, as you can briefly see, the section from la Feclaz to le Revard doesn't have a great surface and is narrower.BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
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